Latest News, Views and Gossip

There are several topics that have been buzzing amongst the poker community. If you’re not already a regular participant in one of many popular online poker forums and have been keeping up with the rumors, we’ll bring you some of the latest updates in regards to news, views and gossip.

Epic Poker League

Established in an effort to give back to the premier connoisseurs and professionals of the game, both Federated Gaming and the Epic League are encapsulated by the idea of putting players first. Being the first league ever created that doesn’t generate profit through rake, 100% of the funds and consequential notoriety that players establish goes directly back to them, a deserving attribute that veterans of poker having been anticipating for years.

What’s unique about the Epic Poker League is its exclusivity — only the best of the best are invited to partake in their events, with the exception of the occasional qualifier or amateur participant. It’s custom-tailored to attract a demographic that’s rarely been explored — consistently seeing world-class performances from specialists and top 100 players that everyone from fans to experienced veterans are dying to witness. Most are aware that these types of players are capable of producing content that can rarely be duplicated, and since that’s what critics demand, the EPL is there to deliver.

Jose “Girah” Macedo Cheating Scandal

Known as the Portuguese poker prodigy, the 18-year-old online No-Limit specialist has spent an incredulous amount of time over the past few weeks crawling into confinement.

Because of his involvement and participation in scamming several high-stakes regulars out of thousands of dollars through the use of superuser accounts, both Macedo and his multiple aliases have spent the latter stages of August shelling out reimbursements to his deceivers.

As has been recently uncovered, the screen names of Dollarman and Sauron1987 have been directly linked to Macedo, both of which were alleged “aggro fish.” Through deep and thorough investigation, several players of whom he tricked into playing these accounts were able to link Macedo to these handles through log-in activity and inconsistent Skype conversations.

Two names who have rarely been associated with such tabloid publicity, Haseeb Qureshi and Daniel “jungleman12” Cates, previously stood by Macedo until most of the facts were revealed. Both players at one point holding equity in Macedo’s play, they believed he was in fact geniune about his remarks, after knowing Macedo for nearly a year’s time.

However, a backlash from the TwoPlusTwo community, in correlation with the outcry of the victims, proved to be too much for all three players to withstand.

Both Qureshi and Cates were later admitted to being guilty of fabricated statements, as both players were involved in illegal multi-accounting, and chip-dumping.

Leo Margets Signs With Lock Poker

Although not directly related to Macedo’s departure, a spot opened up on the roster of Lock Poker pros, and high-profile female Leo Margets filled that void.

The Spanish pro has signed on to the Lock Poker Pro ELITE Team, and is “incredibly happy and thrilled” to join the team.

“I am super proud to be part of a family with so many extraordinary players, this new era that now starts is a huge motivation for me,” stated Margets.

Margets is likely known most famously for being the 27th place finisher in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. Although she didn’t take down the title, she did bring home a whopping $352,000 in prize money. Surprisingly, it was Margets first appearance at the World Series of Poker. In consolation, she also received the “Last Woman Standing” award, which signifies being the final woman to exit the World Championship event. Margets hopes this is an award that can be eradicated, as Margets looks forward to her future entries, and winning the coveted gold bracelet.

Let’s also not forget, she’s been labeled one of the hottest women in poker. Not bad to be associated with that group.

Online Poker Regulation Inspires Conversation

In a recent statement provided from the Chief Executive Officer of Caesar’s Entertainment, Gary Loveman believes that it’s only a matter of time before the regulation and legality of online poker gets ironed out.

“People are not talking about ‘could this happen’ or ‘if this’ll happen’ there’s now a sense of ‘when it should happen’ and ‘under what circumstances’ and that’s a very important change of thought,” mentioned Loveman.

For multiple reasons of which both poker professionals and governing associations are familiar, the implementation of appropriate laws and guidelines allowing online poker to flourish would be to the benefit of many affiliated parties.

“First, it creates the appropriate legal and enforcement environment where the game is being provided fairly by regulated entities that are known to the American authorities.”

“Second, there’s a lot of job creation associated with this; we could provide thousands of American jobs if given the right to do so and there [also] would be the benefit of tax revenues.”

Other political and gaming officials have chimed in recently as well, so look for much improvement in terms of online poker being regulated in the U.S. very soon.